Yard MD blog: November and December 'shrooming

Late fall and winter are perfect for learning about the fungi of Wisconsin

Nov. 19, 2013

Puffballs are just one of many types of mushrooms and other fungi that you can discover during a November stroll through a local nature center, park, or maybe even your own backyard. / Rob Zimmer/Post-Crescent Media

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Post-Crescent Media

While most of us don't want mushrooms popping up in our lawn, November and December are a great time of year to get out into the woods and see these amazing works of art in the bare forest.

There are a number of common and beautiful fungi that can be seen this time of year.

Whether they grow from the ground, on fallen logs and stumps, or cling to living trees and branches, the world of mushrooms and other fungi is a fascinating one. And addicting once you get started.

I receive a lot of requests from readers and visitors to my booths asking me how to identify mushrooms and fungi. For the next several days, Iím going to give you tips on how to identify many of the most common varieties found in the wild in our area. Learning to ID mushrooms may seem daunting at first, but once you learn the general rules and are able to distinguish specific types, you can quickly narrow down your choices.

November is a great time of year to get started, as the forest floor and understory are clear of vegetation and green leaves and its easier to spot many varieties of fungi as they cling to trees, logs, stumps and branches, or emerge from the soil and leaf litter.

A great way to get started in learning about wild mushrooms is to simply get out and take a walk. Visit a local nature center, wildlife area or park and bring along a digital camera or your cell phone. Start snapping photos of every mushroom you see and gather them together in a digital file or folder.

You have all winter long to begin to learn to identify each and every one, just in time for a whole new array of spring mushrooms to begin to emerge! And I will help you do just that, only here on my blog.